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Children & Young Adult Reading — page 12
2,327 public-domain children & young adult reading books, summarised. Page 12 of 49.
More Jataka Tales
Ellen C. Babbitt
A clever, simple beast outwits a larger predator, proving time and again that quick thinking and loyal friends matter far more than brute strength.
The Jingle Book
Carolyn Wells
A whimsical world of absurdity, clever rhymes, and playful mischief unfolds through a vibrant collection of rhythmic nursery verse and lighthearted storytelling.
The Mysterious Basket
Anonymous
A stolen infant finds a home in an old violincello, setting off a winding tale of swapped identity, musical passion, and unexpected reunion.
What Sami Sings with the Birds
Johanna Spyri
The quiet joy of an mountain childhood meets the cold reality of loss in this Swiss classic, where an orphaned boy discovers that hope, faith, and simple goodness are impossible to break.
Nature Myths and Stories for Little Children
Flora J. (Flora Juliette) Cooke
A child learns that the world around them speaks if they only learn to listen.
Tales of Laughter: A third fairy book
Unknown
Folk traditions across the globe have long used humor as a gentle cudgel against foolishness, vanity, and greed. This classic anthology gathers world folklore to show how ordinary folk, clever animals, and tricksters outwit the overbearing, the selfish, and the absurd.
The Russian Garland, Being Russian Folk Tales
Unknown
Spanning vast forests and glittering tsardomies, these vibrant 1830s chap-book tales follow wandering knights, cunning servants, and magical companions who conquer bloodthirsty armies and outwit tyrannical rulers across fantastical lands.
East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon
Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen
Magic, mischief, and rugged resilience collide across the mountains and hearths of traditional Norway.
Fairy Tales from Many Lands
Katharine Pyle
A magical journey through world folklore reveals timeless human truths through talking beasts, perilous quests, and enchanted transformations.
Live toys
Emma Davenport
A tender domestic memoir tracking a Victorian childhood through its menagerie, where animal antics and sudden tragedies teach two siblings the responsibilities of love and ownership.
More Goops and How Not to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Impolite Infants
Gelett Burgess
Delightfully instructive and playfully direct, Gelett Burgess’s guide uses catchy verse and cautionary tales to teach young readers how bad habits and thoughtless antics transform ordinary children into dreaded Goops.
Pansy's Sunday Book
Unknown
A child's small world expands through everyday choices, quiet self-denials, and unexpected encounters, revealing that character is shaped in the subtle, ordinary moments of growth.
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
In a quiet mountain village, an orphaned boy’s sudden mastery of a village master’s fiddle sets off a journey across the Alps toward the sunlit shores of Lake Garda.
Verotchka's Tales
D. N. (Dmitrii Narkisovich) Mamin-Siberiak
An affectionate father lulls his daughter to sleep with ten enchanting tales of the Russian wilderness, where boasting rabbits, vain turkeys, and philosophical flies reveal the humorous, fragile logic of the natural world.
The Fairy Nightcaps
Aunt Fanny
A sick boy floats out his bedroom window on gauzy wings to attend a midnight celebration of wood-sprites in the Hudson Highlands.
A Child's Book of Saints
William Canton
A visionary medieval realm where stone angels sing, ancient pagan monuments harbor hidden truths, and humble pilgrims find paradise in their own backyards. William Canton weaves historical legends into intimate, childlike wonder, blending Christian folklore with the quiet beauty of the natural world.
Hurlbut's Life of Christ For Young and Old: A Complete Life of Christ Written in Simple Language, Based on the Gospel Narrative
Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
A child’s eyes open to an ancient world where angels shine like the sun, quiet carpenters construct honest tools, and miracles unfold along dusty mountain roads without a single word of invented romance.
The Little Gleaner, Vol. X.: A Monthly Magazine for the Young
Various
A steady hand leads young souls toward salvation through solemn warnings, quiet moral examples, and constant scripture studies.
Tolstoi for the young: Select tales from Tolstoi
Tolstoy, Leo, graf
A peasant fool’s stubborn goodness outwits devils, a shoemaker sees Christ in his humble neighbors, and a captive soldier outlasts his captors through quiet resilience.
Wee Ones' Bible Stories
Anonymous
A collection of traditional Bible stories retold with gentle warmth and clear, accessible phrasing, framing sacred narratives from both Testaments as timeless lessons of devotion, faith, and practical human kindness.
Indoor and Outdoor Recreations for Girls
Lina Beard
A collection of imaginative projects and active diversions, this guide empowers young readers to transform everyday scraps and natural elements into a world of creative play.
Racketty-Packetty House, as Told by Queen Crosspatch
Frances Hodgson Burnett
When human eyes turn away, neglected toys lead lives of vibrant, chaotic joy. This whimsical tale celebrates the triumph of the merry-hearted over the merely fashionable.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 2, December, 1877
Various
This collection captures the vibrant, inquisitive spirit of late nineteenth-century childhood, blending whimsical storytelling, instructive poetry, and the earnest intellectual curiosity of a bygone era.
The History of Insects
Unknown
This 1813 volume serves as a brief, moralistic introduction to the natural world, urging young readers to appreciate the divine design inherent in even the smallest, most unsettling creatures of the earth.
On the Seashore: Cassell's "Eyes and No Eyes" Series, Book VII
R. Cadwallader Smith
This guide reveals the hidden, often brutal, and always fascinating lives of the creatures and plants that inhabit the boundary between tide and land.
Pond and Stream
Arthur Ransome
A celebration of the small, hidden lives found in ponds and streams, this guide captures the curiosity of two children learning to observe the natural world.
The history of a mouthful of bread
Jean Macé
The human body is an intricate machine, and understanding its function begins with the simplest act of daily life: taking a single bite of bread. This study of physiology reveals the hidden, rhythmic wonders that sustain our existence.
The Turned-About Girls
Beulah Marie Dix
A daring plan to trade places offers two girls a glimpse of a different life, but the secret burden of their swap proves far more transformative than the change of scenery itself.
Young Knights of the Empire
Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, Baron
A manual for building character through outdoor adventure, this guide frames the Boy Scout movement as a modern revival of ancient chivalry for a new generation.
Blacky the Crow
Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess
Blacky the Crow is an inquisitive, sharp-witted opportunist who believes he knows the world better than anyone else. His relentless search for food and mischief leads him on a series of adventures that test his arrogance against the wisdom of the Green Forest’s other residents.
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Mary Holdsworth
A lonely girl drifts into the dangerous beauty of a snowstorm, and only the persistent tapping of a tiny, feathered friend can lead her grandfather back from the cold grip of miserliness.
The Children's Book of Christmas Stories
Unknown
This collection gathers timeless tales of holiday wonder, capturing the spirit of generosity, memory, and the enduring magic of the season. It offers a window into how generations have imagined and celebrated the Christmas miracle.
The Junior Classics, Volume 7: Stories of Courage and Heroism
Unknown
Courage is rarely a singular act of defiance; it is the quiet, sustained commitment to principle when every external force demands surrender. This collection of historical accounts and legends highlights the resilience of the human spirit across centuries.
A Guide to Mythology
Helen A. (Helen Archibald) Clarke
This collection serves as a foundational primer for young readers, bridging the gap between simple storytelling and the structural analysis of comparative mythology. It organizes global traditions into a cohesive exploration of human belief and imagination.
Cinderella
Anonymous
A young woman endures a life of domestic servitude with grace, only to find her fortunes transformed by magic, a midnight deadline, and a single, delicate glass slipper that holds the key to her destiny.
Moni the Goat-Boy
Johanna Spyri
The story follows a young mountain shepherd whose pure, song-filled life is upended by a moral crisis and the threat of losing his favorite goat. It is a meditation on conscience and the weight of secrets.
Peggy Parsons at Prep School
Annabel Sharp
A spirited boarding school student tackles strict rules, matchmaking, and a local mystery with irrepressible charm. Her adventures prove that a little daring goes a long way toward turning a quiet year into an unforgettable one.
Rhymes and Jingles
Mary Mapes Dodge
This collection of verse captures the fleeting joys and small struggles of childhood with rhythmic grace. It serves as a gentle, observational companion to the daily lives of the young.
Food for the Mind
John-the-Giant-Killer
The art of the riddle is a timeless bridge between the clever and the curious, serving as both a playful diversion and a sharp instrument for uncovering truth beneath the mask of social convention.
Games for Everybody
Mary Christiana Hofmann
This collection of parlor pastimes offers a practical, timeless toolkit for transforming a quiet room into a space of active, communal play. It is a guide to the art of being a host.
The Fairies and the Christmas Child
Lilian Gask
The world is brimming with hidden, wondrous creatures, if only you know how to look for them. A lonely boy discovers that the veil between the mundane and the magical is thinner than he ever imagined.
The Junior Classics, Volume 9: Stories of To-day
Unknown
This collection gathers a diverse array of twentieth-century stories intended for younger readers, ranging from the rugged adventures of the American frontier to whimsical, satirical fairy tales. It serves as a time capsule of the moralizing and adventurous spirit that defined early 1900s children’s literature.
A Bit of Sunshine
Unknown
A young girl enjoys a spirited carriage ride through the countryside, observing the simple, vibrant activities of rural life as the sun emerges after a heavy rain.
A Terrible Tomboy
Angela Brazil
A spirited, tree-climbing girl fights to save her family’s ancestral home from debt, finding her true strength not in defying convention, but in the steadfast love she shows her father.
History Plays for the Grammar Grades
Mary Ella Lyng
This collection of short dramas offers a window into the pedagogical methods of early twentieth-century American classrooms. Designed for students in the grammar grades, these plays transform significant historical milestones—from the arrival of Columbus to the suffrage movement—into participatory classroom…
Legends That Every Child Should Know
Hamilton Wright Mabie
Old tales and myths are the connective tissue of our shared history, offering timeless windows into the human experience. These stories, passed down through generations, reveal the enduring nature of our curiosity, fears, and hopes.
Motors
James Slough Zerbe
The turning of a wheel is never magic; it is the liberation of inherent energy through the careful arrangement of materials and forces. This guide demystifies the mechanical heart of the industrial age for the curious mind.
Toy Craft
Leon H. (Leon Harold) Baxter
This practical manual teaches young hands to build their own playthings, transforming raw lumber and simple tools into a lifetime of creative confidence and personal craft.